Belt conveyer



Oct. '23, 1934. s. A. MILLER 1,977,886

BELT CONVEYER Filed May 26, 1933 32 24 INVENTOR SA.M|LL ER F! (3.4 BY

TTORNEY Patented Oct. 23, 1934 ENT- OFFICE i 1,977,886 BELT coNvEYER Stephen A. Miller, Brooklyn,

N 1 assignor to The Western Union Telegraph Company, New

York, N. Y.,- a corporation of New York Application May 2c, 1933, Serial No. 673,065 10 Claims. (01. 198 -160) This invention relates to belt conveyers, more particularly belt conveyors arranged to transport sheet material resting openly on a fiat belt travelingalong a trough support providedlwith side "walls for keeping the sheets of material on the belt.

This invention has particular reference to means for facilitating the passage of material along a flat belt conveyer from a portion of the conveyor having a predetermined transverse Width to a portion of the conveyer having a constricted or decreased transverse width.

In certain types of conveyer systems which have been developed for handling as telegrams and'the like, a number of conveyors of the drag type wherein the messages are con- Veyed between a moving belt and a stationary support have their discharges concentrated at a certain point for the purpose of transferring the material from a plurality of the drag conveyers to a single conveyer for further transporting the material from the several conveyers along a single route. It been found very expedient;

to employ a conveyer of the broad flat belt type at the concentration point for receiving the material from the several incoming conveyors by arranging saidconveyers to drop the materialon the flat belt at suitably spaced pointstherealong. The material is then conveyed by the fiat belt to the inlet of the single drag conveyer over which the material is to be. continued to a designated point.

It has been found that, for the best handling of the sheets along the fiat belt conveyer, it is 1; desirable that this conveyer shall have a width not less than the longest dimension or the diagonal of the sheets of material beinghandled. Ordi narily, telegraph blanksare rectangular in form and have dimensions of approximately six and a hal by eight inches. A message blank of. this size has a diagonalof approximately ten and a quarter inches. Thismeans that the flat belt conveyer for handling this type be not less is not to use the standard size blank altogether,

but to use blanks of size which will best-ac commodate the message or other purpose for WlllChit is employed. Therefore, a considerable portion of. the blanks being conveyed through the sheet material such When we come of sheet would than say ten and a half inches. How ever,the practi e in the modern telegraph oiiice into the inlet of which the materialfrom the flat belt conveyer isfdischarged, employs a relatively narrow belt, approximately two inches in width,

arranged to engage the blanks so that the outer edges overhang the belt and the channel along which the belt travels. In this type of conveyer it is desirable that the belt engage the message substantially across its center. In other words, in order for the message to be conveyed along this type of conveyer traveling at a relatively high" speed, it is desirable that the same amount of'the message blank be exposedat bothsides of the conveyer channel to prevent air resistance against unequal overhanging side portions causing the message to Work out at one side of the conveyer. to the transfer of the message blanks from the fiat belt conveyer'tothe drag, conveyer, it willbeseen that if a blank having a width of five inches was traveling endwise with its sidesubstantially in engagement with the side of the flat belt trough when. it reached the disa charge end of the conveyer, it would barely be caught by the belt of a drag conveyer disposed with its inlet central of the'flat belt. 'Iherefore it is necessary to provide deflectors at the side of the flat belt trough for deflecting message blanks traveling along one side of the Wide con-g veyer toward the center of the belt in order that they may be properly guided into the inlet of the drag conveyer. A simple deflector or wing dis,- pos'ed at the belt return roller of the discharge" end of the flat belt would accomplish the centering of the messages were it not for the fact that the paper employed for message blanks is relatively thin and limp and also that static. accumulations on the flat belt cause the paper to adhere to the belt.

According .to this invention means has been; supplied for raisingmessage blanks from the flat belt as they reach the discharge end and imparting a fluttering movement to the blank or sheet thereby enabling the deflectors to properly accomplish their result. It is the principal object of this invention therefore to provide means for,"

point along the conveyer V, Q

,nel or support member centering means to impart a fluttering movement to the message so that it may more readily be moved by the centering means.

These and other objects of this invention will appear from the description and the drawing forming a part thereof in which,

Fig. 1 represents a plan view of a flat belt conveyer embodied in this invention, discharging message blanks into the inlet of a drag conveyer.

Fig. 2 is a view in elevation showing the means for imparting the fluttering action to the sheets.

Fig. 3 is a view in elevation of details embodied in Figs. 1 and 2, and

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of a modification of the invention.

Referring to the drawing the preferred embodiment comprises a flat belt conveyer 10 having a trough 11 along the bottom of which a relatively wide belt 12 travels. At the discharge end of the trough a return roller 13 is provided for guiding the belt in the return direction. Centered in front of the discharge end of the conveyer 10 is a conveyer 14 of the drag type comprising a chan- 15 along which a belt 16 travels. The belt 16 travels in continuous engagement with the bottom of the channel and conveys the sheets therealong by frictional engagement therewith substantially in the manner described in Patent No. 1,793,953 granted on February 24, 1931, to F. E. dI-lumy et al. The inlet for said conveyer is provided by passing the belt 16 around an inlet roller 17 and horizontally to return rollers 18 and 19. The return roller 18 .is substantially equal in length to the return roller 13 provided for the flat belt of the conveyer 10. This roller is disposed adjacent the roller 13 at a suitable elevation to cooperate withroller 17 to locate the inlet of the conveyer 14, provided at the meeting point of the belt 16 with the roller 1'7, immediately in front of the flat belt discharge. With this relative arrangement the sheets from the end of the wide belt are conveyed alongthe upper horizontal section of the belt 16 3 until they are engaged between the latter and one side of the blank only, cause the blank to be pulled out of the conveyer.

.ments of the drag conveyer the roller 17.

As soon as they reach the roller 1'? they are carried around the same and fed in between the belt. and the drag support 15.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, telegram blanks 20 and 21 are shown traveling along the'conveyer 10. Observing the relative position of the flat belt conveyer 10 and the drag belt conveyer 14, it can be seen that if the telegram blank 20 which is resting at the nearest extreme side of the conveyer 10 passes forward without shifting its relative position toward the center, it would be engaged substantially along one edge between thebelt 16 and channel member 15 as it enters the drag conveyer and the entire overhanging portion of the blank would extend to the one side of the drag conveyer. In this position, if the latter conveyer were traveling at a relatively high speed, air resistance would be exerted on which would tend to If the telegram blank 20 were smaller than the standard size blank it might not extend far enough to be'engaged between the conveying eleas it is discharged from the flat conveyer.

In order to move such blanks as happen to rest on the flat belt 12 toward a central position before they are discharged into the inlet of the drag conveyer, the deflector plates 22 and 23 are provided at the discharge end of the trough 11 and.

movement against the surface the flat conveyer as it passes 16 and the roller 17 so arranged to extend inwardly toward the center of the conveyer. Theoretically the plates 22 and 23 might be disposed at any convenient point along the flat conveyer 10 and move the blanks riding along the sides of the conveyer toward a central position before reaching the discharge end.

However, the conveyer belts and paper sheets sliding along the troughs or supports accumulate surprisingly large static charges which attract and hold the sheets to the surface of the conveyer belt with some tenacity. As a result a deflector member placed in the path of the sheets in most instances merely curls or bends up the edge or corner when they come against the de flector without moving the body of the blank.

comprises swinging flapper strips or kicker memhere 24 secured at one end to the surface of the roller 18 and arranged so that as the roller is rotated by belt 16 of the receiving conveyer 14, they swing outwardly due to centrifugal force. The outer tips of the swinging strips follow a circular path, substantially as indicated in the dotted circular outline 25, illustrated in Fig. 3. It will be observed that in following this path the strips are caused to strike with a brushing of the curved portion of the belt 12 of around the return roller 13. The strips also impinge upon or kick against'the under surface of sheets as they pass over the roller 18 in their path of travel.

The roller 18 with its flapping strips 24 accomplishes at least two results. The first of these spring from the brushing action of the strips against the surface of the fective to disengage the leading edge of any telegram blank that might be adhering to the belt with sufficient tenacity to follow the belt around the return roller. The leading edge having been dislodged the second result is accomplished by the action of the flapper strips in striking against or kicking the under surface of the sheets as they pass over the roller thereby imparting a fluttering movement thereto. In other words, the effect of the rotating strips is to provide the action of an enlarged roller having a surface of such a nature as to furnish a means for imparting an intense vibration to the sheets and upon which they ride in much the same manner as though they were floating freely in the air. With this sort of vibration the deflectors 22 and 23 can very effectively accomplish their action of directing the sheets toward a central position and thereby cause them to properly enter the inlet of the receiving conveyer 14. In other words, the sheets are directed to a central alignment before they are engaged between the belt that the overhanging portions of the sheets as they travel along the relatively narrow receiving conveyer will be substantially balanced. As heretofore stated, it is highly desirable that overhanging portions of the sheets be mainbelt 12 which is efflector plates may be arness tained so that there is a minimum tendencysfor air resistance to the sheets travelling at a" rapid rate to cause the same tofall cut of the latter.

conveyer;

It should be observed that it is not'necessary that the sheets or telegram blanks be aligned with: their ledges parallel with the direction of travel. The only important point is that the overhanging portions of the sheets-as they enter the narrow conveyer are not too greatly out of balance; The outlet between the deflector plates 22 and 23 is of such a width as toperm'itthe sheets to pass freely between the same even,

though they are not aligned. The deflectors are also arranged to direct the blankssuflicientlyv towards a central position to insure that blanks of a width less than the standard or average width are engaged by the receiving conveyer.

Whenthe provision fora discharge of a wide to a narrow conveyer is constructed according to this invention a major difliculty is overcome. Heretofore no means has been provided for insuring that the blankswould be freed from adherence to the delivery conveyer belt during the period of deflector action. In other words, the

blank would merely strike against the deflector and curl or roll up along one edge without mov-- ing the' 'reinote edge out of its original position.

As a result it would in some instances fail entirely t o be engaged in the inlet of the receiving,

conveyor, whereupon it would be lost from the conveyer system and would have to .be restored bypersons whose duty it was to inspect the generalprogress of the conveying system. The im- .provement provided according to this invention has largely eliminated the necessity for inspection at this point. It thus greatly increases the ability of the conveyer to handl'e' large'amounts of message blanks of sizes widely diflering from the standard size for which the conveyer was designed to handle.

Referring to Fig. 4 a modified form of. the invention is illustrated. Under certain circumstances it may be desirable to increase the amount of agitation or vibratory movement imparted to the sheets of material as they proceed through the constricted portion of the cenveyer path provided by thedeflectors. it may be provided by employing additional rollers 8'1 and 32 disposed between the agitator roller 18 and the conveyer belt return roller 13.. .Each.

of these rollers may be provided with flapper strips 24 similar to that provided for the roller 18 and secured thereto in substantially the same 5 manner.

With the use of additional agitating rollers it is also desirable to increase the length of the de-- flector plates adjacent the agitator rollers. As shown in Fig. i the deflector plates 33 and 34 ex- ;tend from the end of the conveyer channel 11 proper to embrace the three agitator rollers. When longer deflector membe'rsare' thus employed the angle of deflection will ordinarily be less and the outer or delivery endof the constricted poi" tion of the conveyor path may bemaintained substantially the same.

of deflection incorporated in the embodiment, the

heavier provided for When this is, desired,

On the other hand,- if it is desired to obtain an alignment of the sheets within sheets of material upon "leaving the. conveyor belt 12' will. beconsiderably more agitated than in thepreviousembodiment dueto the factsthatthe points of contact orimpi-ngement by the flapper strips will bemultiplied' and spreadover a. larger area. This combined with the more gentle angleof deflection of the deflector or guide plates 33 and 34 acts tomoreperfectly alignthersheets. in a central position belt before they are discharged into the. inlet. of the narrow conveyer 1 4. 'General'lyspeaking: a-

or greater number of sheets. can. be. handled when the numbered agitating rollersi arev increased than with an embodiment employing. only oneroller'; From the foregoing description it: will be. ob-l served that an improved arrangement has been discharging sheet. material from. a relatively wide delivery conveyer in whichythesheets may travel along the edge of' the conveyer' in a substantially ofi centerposition to a conveyer of a relatively narrow width where it; is essential that the sheets be substantiallycentered; with respect to the narrow conveyer. :It isto beunderstood that this invention is not. restricted inaits. application to the h-andlingnof small'light weight. sheets of paper such as telegram blanks but. may be applied to handling any other type of material; which would readily respond to. vibration-imparting elements substantially of the: type. providedilllfv wardly against thesheets, thevibration. imparting 11 g;

element of this invention should beclearly distinguished from what might be termed clearing or disledging brush presenting asubstantially con.- tinuous and uniform surface. to a. sheet oflmaterial riding onthe brush. elements be sufficiently sparselydi'stributed. and that the raterof the successive impacts be suitable to impart a substantial impact shock ta the sheet as it rides over the same. This shock or impact when provided according'to'this invention will effectively-be transferred, to the entire body of the sheet and with a surprising degree ofefficiency dislod'ging thesheet. by overcoming the static charge therein. Otherforms and modifications of thearrangement will occurtothoseskilled inthe art which will fall within'the scope of this invention. While. this invention isshown in but two forms, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited but is susceptible tovarious changes and modifications.without departing from the spirit thereof and it. isdesired therefore that only such limitations shall be'placed thereon as is imposed by the-prior art or set forth inrthe" appended claims; i

WhatI claim is: 1. In a belt conveyer,"arelativelywidetroughmember arranged to provide a path along which sheet material is to be conveyed conveying means arranged totravel along the bottom of said trough; 114

It is; essential that the. .1-

with respect to the conveyer".

upper 15.02

"means for striking return roller for face, deflector means'projecting inwardly from the sides of said trough for providing a transverse under side of the sheets for imparting a fluttering movement thereto as the sheets approach said deflector means.

3. Ina belt conveyer, a relatively wide trough member arranged to provide a conveyer path, a belt arranged to convey sheetmaterial along the bottom of said trough member and deliver the same at the discharge end of the trough, means for providing a transverse constriction in the path at and means at said end for imthe discharge end, parting a fluttering movement to the sheets as they approach said path constriction.

. 4.. In a conveyer for sheet material a relatively wide trough member, a belt arranged to convey material along the bottom of said trough mem-'.

her and deliver the same at the discharge end of the trough, deflector means projecting inwardly from the sides of the trough for providing a transverse constriction of the path at the discharge end and means arranged adjacent said deflector against .the said sheets at a plurality of points for vibrating the sheets to render the guiding action of the deflector means more effective. s

5. In a flat belt conveyer for sheet mate- "rial, a discharge end, a belt guide roller at the discharge end, a belt upon the upper face of which sheets are carried, said belt being arranged to pass around said roller in a return direction, and a roller having swinging flapper strips sei 'curedat one end to its surface, said roller being disposed in position for said flappers to brush against the curved portion of the belt in a direction opposite to the belt travelfor disengaging the forward edge of any sheets that may tend to adhere to the belt and for imparting a fluttering movement tothe sheetsiso as to entirely free each sheet from the belt in order that it may be readily discharged.

6. In a flat belt conveyer for sheet material having'a'stationary support member embodying upstanding side walls, said conveyor being provided with 'a discharge end, a belt guide roller at the discharge end, a belt upon the upper face of which sheets are carried, said belt being arranged to travel upon said support and pass around the guide roller in a return direction, deflectors adjacent the discharge end and disposed to project inwardly from the sides of said support member for directing the sheets toward a central position on the belt, and a roller having swinging flapper strips secured at one end to its surface, said roller being disposed adjacent the deflector and in position for the flapper strips to brush against the surface of the belt as it passes around the dislodging any sheets that may tend to adhere to the belt and for striking against all of the sheets as they approach the deflectors to impart a fluttering movement thereto for entirely freeing each sheet from the belt and ren-.

dering it more susceptible to the deflector action.

'I. In a flat belt conveyer for sheet material having a stationary support member embodying upstanding side walls, said conveyer beingprovided with a discharge end, a belt guide roller at the discharge end, a belt upon the upper face of which sheets are carried, said belt being arranged to travel upon said support member and pass around the guide roller in a return direction, de-

impart a fluttering movement flectors disposed adjacent to the discharge end andarranged to project inwardly from the sides of said support member for directing the sheets towards a central position on the belt, and a plurality of rollers having swinging flapper strips secured at one end to the surface, said rollers being disposed in spaced relation substantially in the plane of the conveyer and along the portion of the conveyer path embraced by said deflectors, said rollers cooperating to lift the forward edge of each sheet as it approaches the deflectors and to the sheet by means of the flapper strips striking the under surface thereof for rendering the sheet more susceptible to the guiding action of the deflector.

8. In a conveyer system for handling sheet material, a delivery conveyer having a discharge end and a receiving conveyer having an inlet disposed to receive sheets discharged from the delivery conveyer, said delivery conveyer having a belt of substantially greater width than the sheets upon which the latter ride freely without regard to their position with respect to the center line of the belt, said receiving conveyer being relatively narrow and arranged to transport the sheets most effectively when they are disposed in a central position with respect thereto, and means adjacent to the discharge end of said delivery conveyer for moving said sheets toward a substantially central position, said means comprising deflectors extending inwardly from the sides of the delivery conveyer and means disposed adjacent to the deflectors to strike the sheets for agitating the same to increase the facility with which the sheets yield to the deflector action. I

9. In a belt conveyer system for sheet material, a horizontally disposed support member having a relatively greater width than the sheets and having upstanding side walls arranged to provide a path along which the sheets are conveyed, a flat belt disposed to travel along said support between said side walls for conveying sheets along the conveyer to a discharge at one end, a narrow conveyer comprising a relatively narrow channel and means arranged to convey sheets along the channel with the lateral portions thereof overhanging the sides of the channel, said conveyer being provided with an inlet disposed adjacent the discharge end of the wide conveyer in a centralposition with respect thereto, deflectors disposed to project inwardly from the side walls of the wide conveyer at its discharge end for directing any sheets travelling along the sides of the conveyer inwardly toward a central position for aligning them with the inlet of the narrow conveyer, and means disposed adjacent the discharge deflectors comprising one or more rollers carrying agitating means for imparting a vibratory movement to the sheets, whereby they more readily respond to the action of the deflectors.

10. In a conveyer system, a delivery conveyer having a discharge end and a receiving conveyer having an inlet disposed substantially in alignment with the delivery conveyer to receive sheets discharged therefrom, said delivery conveyer having a width greater than the receiving conveyer, and means adjacent to the discharge of the delivery conveyer for constricting the conveyer path adjacent the discharge end and means disposed adjacent said path constriction for agitating the material to facilitate the passage of the same through said path constriction.

- STEPHEN A. MILLER. 

